Not sure if the fact that this has made to Cricinfo has been discussed here already (please do point out if it has - I might have missed it).
Why Ashraful must go
Bangladesh's captain has been given plenty of rope but he has only managed to hang himself with it
Abu Choudhury
January 16, 2009
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That sinking feeling: Ashraful makes a duck, one of his 15, against New Zealand last year © AFP
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After his 13 Tests and 34 ODIs at the helm, it is clear that Mohammad Ashraful is not the right man to lead Bangladesh anymore.
In the recently concluded
second Test in Chittagong, Sri Lanka declared on 447 leaving Bangladesh a mammoth target of 624 for victory. Bangladesh's batting, led by their captain, had proved surprisingly resilient in the previous Test
in Mirpur, and so their supporters were by no means disconsolate. However, when Mohammad Ashraful arrived at the crease in the 16th over the scorecard read a disappointing 32 for 2. After successfully negotiating some probing deliveries from Ajantha Mendis, the Bangladesh captain proceeded with caution in his next over. The script was being followed rather well; the skipper was leading by example and eschewing expansive strokeplay. That did not last long.
Just three overs later he attempted an audacious square-cut against Ajantha Mendis, only to bottom-edge the ball to the keeper. He had scored seven runs from 17 balls and lasted a total of 19 minutes at the crease. His fine hundred in Dhaka just a few days earlier seemed a distant memory.
Followers of Bangladesh cricket will not have been surprised by the soft dismissal. In the first innings of the match, Ashraful had lost his wicket attempting an ambitious reverse sweep against Muttiah Muralitharan. Ashraful's batting to date is littered with examples of missed opportunities and the failure to make the most of his talent.
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